He's no oil painting...

inspired by things heavenly

2009-08-20T14:44:00.000-07:00

If you've seen the pic on this blog called "Underground Icon" by Trademark (Mark Wardel), you'll realise that i like alternative representations of spiritual icons and religious figures. Trademark was exploring what it means to be an Icon in our modern age and today what cuts the mustard is good looks and celebrity, not anything more meaningful. I thought i'd look at this idea myself with these two religious figures (obviously from the same figure pose).

One thing i love about monoprinting is that you can take a print and then use the remaining ink/paint to create something else, by adding splodges of extra colour, scoring more lines and patterns etc. Here are two variations on an angel theme.

Lastly, i have a thing about wings and winged mythical creatures ( i was watching the "Clash of the Titans" on telly the other day and remembered how much i loved the image of Pegasus when i was a kid). Here is an image that just grew out of a doodle of wings.

'banished'

variations on a theme

2009-08-20T14:40:00.000-07:00

these two monoprints evolved from the same standing pose: the first called "bodies" and the second is "pole dancer"

found scribbles

2009-08-20T14:36:00.000-07:00

i came across some sketches and things that i'd long forgotten about, so thought i'd share them

on my wall... well, actually on the roof

2009-03-08T00:01:00.001-08:00

I was rudely woken up at just gone 7am this morning by the screeching racket from a mob of seagulls. On looking out of my kitchen window, i could see perched on the neighbour's roof was, what i at first thought to be an egret. It was crouched down with its head tucked into its chest feathers. Overhead was a gang of seagulls dive-bombing as close as they dared. Then he stood up. A tall, proud heron - much larger than an egret. I managed to snap a couple of pics through the glass of the kitchen window, but then attempted to open it quietly and managed to scare the bird off.

Felim Egan

2009-02-11T14:09:00.000-08:00

After having successfully sold all three watercolours that i recently listed on Ebay - not for huge sums unfortunately, but enough - I was reminded of another work of art that passed through my doors, rather regretfully. The regret comes from having sold it on, mainly due to poor finances at the time. It was found in a junk shop in a rather battered frame and turned out to be the Portsmouth Polytechnic period work of Irish artist, Felim Egan. I contacted the artist to confirm its provenence as it is SO different to his current work; he graciously replied to inform me of its origins and told me that it was part of a series of four works based on an ancient religious text, the Book of Durrow. The image represents 'the Crucifixion' and is quite a stunning piece. After finding this picture, i went back to the junk shop and found a second print in the series entitled , 'St Matthew'. I sold both works to an Irish collector and was very happy with the return it gave me on my investment, but sad that I had to part with it nonetheless.

Little Red Riding Hood - the inspiration

2009-01-28T13:03:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture I painted a few years ago and exhibited at the Portsmouth Open Art Competition back in 2004. The inspiration obviously comes from the Little Red Riding Hood childrens' story popularised by the Brothers Grimm, but the reason for me painting it actually came from a visit to the graduates show at Portsmouth University. One project set to the 1st year illustration students that year was to illustrate fairy stories. Some of the work was really great and it set my mind whirring for some of my own work. I love the fact that kid's tales are sometimes really quite dark and violent and often have a deeper tale to tell about the pains of growing up and the big bad world. I really like the LRRH tale in particular because it could so easily be a tale of growing up in today's world - the innocent child walking carefree to her grandmother's house, preyed upon by the carnivorous beast in the dark woods etc . It is interesting to note that the story has changed a great deal from it's original telling when the wolf did actually eat Little Red Riding Hood and it was only when the woodsman cut open his belly that she was found. There was a debate on "Loose Women" yesterday about whether kids stories are in fact, to scary and violent. Personally, I think it's a great opportunity to introduce the idea to kids that the world isn't all sweet and lovely and that there are consequences to our actions. But also, that baddies more often than not, do get their comeuppance.

Time to move on...

2009-01-19T10:57:00.001-08:00

I have penchant for traditional landscape paintings - not because I have a fondness for a particular scene or county, but because despite living in an urban environment (portsmouth, one of the most densely populated areas of the UK) I do love the countryside. There were many good jobbing artists around in the Victorian period and the early 20th century produced some marvellous landscape artists (eg. Eric Ravillious, Christopher Wood). Sadly, none of the following landscapes are signed, but I love them none-the-less. The time has come, however, to pass them on to new owners who will appreciate them just as much as I have; i have just listed them on Ebay but thought i'd share them with you before they disappear into another private collection.

when 3 become 1

2009-01-03T16:12:00.000-08:00

This Christmas brought a very special present from Santa; my partner ( a part-time picture framer) framed 3 abstract paintings that i did several years ago as a tryptich. I have to say, i did give him fairly strict guidelines/instructions about how i would like the paintings framed, and too his credit, he did marvellously in following them. One key consideration was how the frame would both 'sit' with the paintings (not dominating them or detracting from them) and how the frame would go in our home interior which is mainly neutral beige colours. I'm delighted with the Farrow & Ball colour he chose, which is called N0. 26 Down Pipe! tell me what you think. He also delighted in telling me about his creative 'input' into the framing choice where he waxed the outer frame to tie in with the varnished parts of the paintings themselves.

Shockingly in this picture, i now notice the terrible damp stain on the wallpaper behind! Our hallway area is generally so dark that i manage not to look too hard at the decor, but in our defence, we didn't do the decorating in that area. Although we've lived in here for over 3 years now, we haven't got round to decorating much of the flat - too busy working, collecting and blogging no doubt.

shadow angel

2008-11-06T12:44:00.000-08:00

This is an idea i'm working on of an angelic (not necessarily winged) figure emerging from the shadows. Tell me what you think.

Neil Murison RWA

2008-11-06T01:30:00.000-08:00

I recently purchased this painting from an online auction and will be delighted when it's fully framed and hanging on my kitchen wall. Obviously, it's an abstract form (perhaps of a figure) painted on board, using a rough, impasto technique. The work of the artist, Neil Murison, was introduced to me by a friend who lives in Bristol and who is a friend of the RWA (Royal West of England Academy). I regularly go up to Bristol and visit the galleries there with him and he has two Murison works himself, but not of this scale. The painting is quite large, so i was stunned to be able to purchase it for under £100. Murison's work usually sells for £100s and even £thousands in galleries and he has established himself as a regular fixture of the Bristol art scene calendar, particularly at the RWA. He most recognisable work is far more naturalistic, of palm trees and white sandy beaches. The more abstract works are a sideline, from what i can tell.

Unknown ladies

2008-11-06T01:24:00.000-08:00

Here are two painting of unknown ladies/girls - the first from the 1960s, painted in broad, expressive strokes of oil paint by Sonia Mervin; the second is by someone called Harold Dodge and despicts a very beautiful Edwardian girl using watercolours. I have absolutely no idea who these ladies are, but i find them both to be very beautiful and the artists have truly captured something about their natures other than just the physical appearances.

CHANGE has come to Portsmouth

2008-11-06T01:20:00.000-08:00

My partner sometimes despairs at me because I just can't leave things alone! I have that terrible curse that afflicts many artists that I just don't know when to stop - and as a consequence, sometimes end up completely ruining perfectly good artworks. But sometimes, also, it's the best decision because i'm bored with a piece, or something in my brain was telling me that it just wasn't quite "working". This is what happened with the crucifixion painting that i blogged about just before this posting. You will see too that i have painted the frame so that the whole piece sits well together.

another Jesus

2008-09-19T13:15:00.001-07:00

to follow on from my recent crucifix paintings, i thought i'd show you 'one i made earlier'. Sorry about the shine on the bottom left - acrylic paint doesn't photograph well!

Artistic Angst

2008-09-19T13:15:00.000-07:00

Morning In All It's Glory

The Silence of Death

I've mentioned previously that I have a "thing" about creating crucifixion scene artwork and a general love of religious iconography. Well, here are a couple of paintings that I have recently completed and may/may not enter into some local competition exhibtions. I'm not going to commit myself to saying whether I will or not because I shall be quite disappointed if they're not accepted for exhibition! The first time I entered the Portsmouth Open exhibition all of my paintings were rejected (the triptych of abstracts i've previously blogged pictures of). The next time I had a go, i tried something very different, an illustrative painting of the little Red Riding Hood story and was successful in getting it exhibited - but no Sale out of it. Ho Hum.... so, I hope the third time's a charm.

If you're wondering about the painting titles - they're not confirmed either - they actually came from the paint tubes! WHSmith have a very quirky way of naming their paint colours. The first refers to the colour Violet and the second, Mars Black. I rather liked their definitions.

The Ties that Bind

2008-07-23T00:46:00.000-07:00

Although i set out with this blog to show my art collection and to discuss my general love of art, I find that there is much more I want to share that can't be considered art, but which has still found itself in a frame and a place in my home. I have an on/off interest in family history (genealogy) which has led me down many interesting lines of inquiry. One branch of my family tree, the Tuckwell family, has led to one of the founding Fathers of the Australian port city of Darwin in the Northen Territory. Edward (Ned) Tuckwell and his wife Eliza (nee Hemmings) were amongst the first settlers to the Northern Territory and, indeed, Ned was part of the first expedition teams to the area. There are tales of daring-do about these early expeditions: one tale involved having to make rafts out of their slaughtered horses after falling foul of the weather and nearly starving to death. They paddled back to "civilization" and had to fight of croccodiles - no doubt attracted by the stinking flesh of their craft! Ned was a carpenter by trade and helped build many of the towns early buildings. There is a road named after the family and even an old peoples home. Eliza was a prominant figure in the town and built a successful business; also, two of their grandchildren received MBEs for service to nursing. There is much more to this Australian branch of my family than i can write down here, but if you are a Tuckwell descendant yourself, i'd love to hear from you.

Edward and Mary Tuckwell (father and mother of Ned Tuckwell) - unknown grandchild. Another branch of the Tuckwell family, their daughter Mary, married a man named Thomas Poole and founded a dynasty in New Zealand. They really were a jet-setting bunch back then.
Charles Tuckwell (Brother of Ned Tuckwell) was my x2 great grandfather and a very interesting character. He was born in Eastry, Kent, circa 1836 son to Edward and Mary. He joined the Royal Navy as a boy and worked his way up through the ranks to become a chief Boatswain, then Master Rigger at Devonport dockyard and finally the recruitment officer at Portsmouth Dockyard. His story is one of grit and determination with service on many fine ships. He served in the Crimea and in the Far East where he fought off Chinese pirates! On retirement, he was promoted to Lieutenant which at that time was extremely new and rare - before then, only 'Gentlemen' of the upper classes were given such a title, but there was a campaign of the day to allow the progression of ordinary sailors without reference to class. I think he was a very proud man who may have been appalled by his son (Charles Walter, my great grandfather) who took to drinking and was thrown out of the navy. The evidence suggests that Charles Walter was disowned by his parents because after they moved away to the Middlesex area, there was very little contact kept. As a consequence, i have found cousins that i knew nothing about!

to a long lost friend

2008-06-13T09:54:00.000-07:00

My partner and I were the once the owners of two cats, Curzon and Dax, named after our favourite character from Star Trek: Deep Space 9. This feisty character was a symbiotic amalgamation of two alien lifeforms and it seemed only appropriate that our two bundles of fluff should be named after her as they were pretty inseparable in the first few months. Dax, a glossy black moggy was the laziest and most laid back of the pair; she now resides with a longtime friend after we moved to a 1st floor flat and felt we couldn't, in fairness, house a cat when there was no garden for them to play in. Curzon was a neurotic, continuously miaowing tabby who would ravenously scoff down tuna like it was his last meal on earth, would claw at closed doors to be let into a room because he thought he was missing something and would drool copiously when his tummy was tickled. Sadly, Curzon disappeared a few years ago with no hint or sign or what had happened to him. We still hope that he found another admiring owner, perhaps one who could afford fresh tuna for him instead of economy tins. This sketch was something I drew when he was spread out on my bed one afternoon in 2001. So Curzon, this post is for you, with love.

Abstracts - a love of paint

2008-06-06T15:40:00.001-07:00

I get very frustrated with people who say that they "just don't get it" when it comes to abstract art. My usual feeling is, what is to "get"?

For most people, their response to art is based on its initial visual aesthetic. Whilst artists may like to think it important that their audience do indeed "get" what they're trying to say with a piece of art, most will find that the reaction they get is usually different from what was expected. Abstract art is one of those types of art that divides people on an aesthetic and an intellectual level. Some people will not be able to see the 'point' of it and even deride it as nonsense or use the phrase, "my four year old could do better than that". They may scoff at the artist's skill and technique and think it self-indulgent or pretentious.

For me, abstract works needn't be anything other than an experiment in colour, line and space etc which ends in something which is visually appealing or stimulating. Technically speaking, i guess you might more accurately call them "studies" in abstractionism. If the viewer "gets" something out of it, either seeing shapes or textures in it that remind them of something like painting pictures from clouds, or perhaps it gives them an emotive response, then that's great - but it's not my driving force in making abstract work. Yes, i guess that does make abstract art a self-indulgent pursuit for me - it can be very cathartic to splash paint about and then stand back and pull out some meaning from happy accidents in the paint. The fun bit comes when i then, with all seriousness, ask my partner, "so, what do you think?" The squirm on his face is usually rather amusing as he tries desperately to come up with something to say about it when his only true response is based on a Marmite aesthetic feeling of does he or doesn't he like it.

Beauty in the Garden

2008-06-06T15:32:00.000-07:00

Despite being in love with paint - its texture, intensity of colour and general gloopyness - I do sometimes play around with monochrome Monoprinting. This image is titled "Beauty in the Garden" and is now resident in Wales at the home of our friends from the Old Stile Press http://www.oldstilepress.com/

After Marc

2008-06-06T15:30:00.000-07:00

Franz Marc inspired artwork from my teens.

Ggggrrrr...

2008-06-06T15:15:00.000-07:00

This gouache painting was something I did quite a few years ago when i first met my partner. I stole from his Ex- the nickname he had given to my partner, "bear", and started calling him it myself. Anyone who has met him will realise how appropriate the name is and I wanted to give him a gift that meant something. Around that time, he was encouraging me to paint a series of paintings of the 'Stations of the Cross' for my local church. The style i was experimenting with was greatly influenced by the Fauvist, Franz Marc, and also Wassily Kandinsky. I absolutely love colour and played around with a rainbow palette and black illustrative lines. The resultant image is perhaps a bit children's bookish, but I still get nostalgic when i look at it and remember being in the first flush of romance.

The Stations of the Cross pictures are, rather amazingly, still in situ at my old church, St Clare's in Warren Park, Havant, Hampshire. Images in the series include a crucifixion picture of a dove nailed to a tree surrounded by a wild dogs, a weeping crocodile representing the women of Jerusalem and a representation of Christ as an elephant, carrying not only his cross with strength and pride, but also his people on top. As you will have guessed, I am also intrigued by symbolist art.

Clive Hicks-Jenkins

2008-06-06T15:06:00.000-07:00

This ink drawing hangs in our study and arrived as a gift to my partner from the artist Clive Hicks-Jenkins. Apologies to Clive if this work was never intended for public display (i understand it was a preparatory drawing for a collaboration with the Old Stile Press on a book of Richard Barnfield's poetry), but I just had to show it. It is so wonderfully composed: powerful and yet sensuous, subtle but at the same time very direct. I can safely say that this work of art has the biggest pride of place in our flat.

Sir Matthew Smith ?

2008-06-06T14:42:00.001-07:00

Well, what a condumdrum this picture is? I bought it from ebay a little while ago, from a seller who told me that he had purchased it at an auction in Northern Ireland from an artistocratic family's estate. There was no other provenence to go by and he said he didn't know who the artist was. On viewing the monogram and date of "MS 35" I took a gamble that it may be by the British artist Sir Matthew Smith who was well known painter, particularly of flowers of that time. His work is quite fluid with big expressive brush marks, but usually very colourful - which this work cannot really claim to be. The monogram is so like others of his that i have seen, that i just had to have a punt on it.

When the painting arrived in the post, i really didn't know what to think. It is quite clear that it has been painted over another still life picture of flowers as there are quite thick areas of paint which give away the silhouettes of flowers and leaves on an underneath layer. Also, intriguingly, there is another painter's name just visible on the below painting, "Beckley" - at least, that is what it looks like. This corner of the painting is also unvarnished which clearly reveals it to be a later overpaint. The conundrum is whether this is a deliberate fake intended to make potential buyers like me think it was indeed by Smith, or whether the seller genuinely did not have any such intention and that he was none the wiser that the "MS" might give the impression it was by this artist. I wondered if he too had taken a gamble on it when he bought it, but realised his mistake and then hoped he could also pass it off to someone who was willing to take a risk. The third possibility is that the top painting is indeed by an artist who's monogram was "MS" (possibly Matthew Smith) and that they were simply being economic in re-using an unwanted canvas.

Fortunately, I really didn't pay a lot for it, £20, so i was a risk i was prepared to take. Also, I shall be taking it to an Antiques Roadshow valuation day in a few weeks so I shall hopefully be able to share with you an expert's opinion.

Land Sea and Sky

2008-06-06T14:28:00.000-07:00

I get a little glow of satisfaction when I look at these two beautiful pastel landscapes. This is because I bought them for a snip at £10 each - there were in decrepit old and dirty frames and I think the guy who sold them to me might have thought they were prints. But No! They were the genuine article and my very talented other-half reframed them for me and made them look even more stunning. They are monogrammed with "FM" but even an expert at the Antiques Roadshow couldn't tell me who they were by. He did however say that you really couldn't go far wrong paying £10 for them as they were worth more like £150 each. Result!

Some bargain buys

2008-06-04T15:35:00.000-07:00

This is a marmite picture, by that I mean a love it or hate it painting. I found it in a junk shop, rather unloved and buried beneath stacks of other pictures and frames. It's by a relatively unknown artist named Irene Holdway who has had a few pictures exhibited at the Royal Academy's summer exhibitions and I believe this painting dates from the 1970s. I originally bought it to re-sell on ebay and hopefully make a profit on my £10 investment (bargain), but i decided that i really liked it and wanted to keep it. The turquoise colours went perfectly with the intended interior design scheme - what a pity we've been here two years and still only managed to decorate the living room! This rather striking image of a marble head was painted in 1884 by an art student called J.Witchell . It came in a portfolio of drawings and sepia paintings bought at a local auction for around £25. Most of the other works in the portfolio were sold on to other collectors, but we kept this image. I don't have much else to say about it except that it is an exceptionally well painted image.
This last image is an oil on canvas (laid onto board) painting of a domestic interior scene and painted in the 1940s. On the back was a foreign language title which i think was possibly Hungarian. The colours of this photo aren't quite true as i had to adjust slightly to compensate for my camera's flash, but it is a fairly good representation of the real thing. I have a fondness for partially finished works and sketches.

underground icon

2008-06-04T15:16:00.000-07:00

I mentioned that I like religious iconography and that it has informed a lot of the art I've produced. Well, one of my favourite pictures at home is a screenprint called "Underground Icon" by the artist known as Trademark (born Mark Wardel). He made a name for himself designing posters and flyers for nightclubs like Trade and Heaven in London back in the 1990s - this picture was bought for me as a Christmas present in 2001 by my other half from a shop called American Retro in Soho, London. There is an up-coming exhibition of his work at the Galleria art gallery in Pall Mall, London from the 18th June 2008 and his website is http://www.trademarkart.com/ . His blogsite is on myspace at http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=149866152

Caroline Townshend

2008-06-03T01:02:00.001-07:00

A couple of years ago, my partner and I visited the Royal Academy in London for an exhibition entitled Works on Paper. It's primarily a business exhibition where art dealers, artists, photographers and book makers exhibit their work for sale. In one corner of the exhibition was a picture swap - this is where you can bring along a picture or draw one whilst there which is then swapped for someone else's artwork. We'd forgotten to take something along with us so ended up drawing the life model that they had hired for the event. At the end of the day, we queued with all the other participants like entrants in the Grand National to rush past the starting line and grab the works we wanted to take home. Someone at the event had provided some stunning old figure drawings which were positioned high up on the walls so you had to be either very tall or very cunning to grab a chair and get them - fortunately my partner is the former and i was the latter. The pictures we chose turned out to be by the artist, Caroline Townshend, who was best known for designing stained glass. Her works range from a spectacular window for the Fabian Society to more small scale parish churches, such as Rustington in Sussex. I think they are both very tender and beautiful.

Would you like to see my etchings?

2008-06-03T00:48:00.000-07:00

I have a 'thing' for Angels and went through a phase of constantly drawing and painting them; I seem to have moved on to Crucifixion imagery now (it's that religious iconography interest I mentioned).

This is a small painting sketch of the view from Southsea to the Ryde on the Isle of Wight.

Oeuvres

2008-06-02T15:55:00.001-07:00

From time to time i'm drawn to pick up a paint brush or ink up a sheet of glass to do some monoprinting. I don't get creative nearly as often as I should, but thought I would share with you some of my previous efforts. I'm not a professional artist, having done a degree in fashion design and not fine art, but it is a hobby that I have considered turning into a career at some point. Do let me know what you think.

Who's "She"? the cat's mother?

2008-06-02T15:41:00.000-07:00

One of the joys of being a fervent rummager is that you sometimes unnearth some gems. These two etchings were found in a antiques/junk shop, in dirty, broken frames and thoroughly unloved. There was a third image but it had been so badly treated that it had torn. I managed to get the vendor to lower his price to a reasonable £90 for the two and asked my partner to reframe them for me. My apologies for the glare on them as they were photographed behind glass. They come from a series by the Cypriot artist Panayiotis Kalorkoti and are his taken on some famous works of art and their artists. The first is called 'Matisse' and the second is obviously 'Whistler' and his mother. I just love their quirkiness and the muted colour palette. Also, the way the artists are seen either engaging or not in their subject matter.

Somebody's Mother

2008-06-02T15:06:00.000-07:00

In addition to being an avid pottery collector, I have a passionate interest in art and a growing collection at home on my walls. My taste is fairly ecclectic, but any visitor to my home (with lots of forewarning of their arrival - i can't stand it when people show up unannounced) would notice some clear themes: portraits of unknown ladies, religious iconography, beautiful landscapes and intense abstracts. Some of the art on my walls is my own work and others are bought, most often in junk shops or on ebay. The picture above was one of the first I purchased and is unfortunately, unnamed - for either artist or sitter. It's an oil on board, actually on the bottom of a drawer with screw holes to prove it and I would think it dates from the turn of the last century. I often wonder who she was and what he relationship of the painter might have been. In my household, she has come to be known as "Elspeth" - a name plucked from the air that seemed to resonate with her period dress and rather terse expression.